Spiders Tattoo - Buffers Revenge
by CUtopia
Summary: Buffer is seeking for revenge for the "XO"-tattoo and is not only pursuiting one plan - after all it is not a secret that the two youngest crewmembers do cherish a certain sympathy for each other... Bomber/Spider; Nav/Buffer; Kate/Mike
1. Chapter 1

Translation of my story "Spiders Tattoo – Buffers Rache"... I hope you like it and leave me some comments :) And please excuse me if I am not writing that perfect!

Buffer, Swain, Charge, 2Dads, Spider, Nav and Bomber walked laughing along the pier the Hammersley had landed on. It was a friendship visit on this small island and the majority of the crew had received permission for a shore leave while the XO and the boss would discuss about the details of their next operation with the local authorities.

"RO, you´re such a killjoy, not coming with us!", yelled 2Dads as the group had chosen a bar to go to.

"Why? Just because he wants to avoid to be paired with a transsexual by you? Just leave him be", Buffer defended their comrade while shaking his head. "Let´s go celebrate!"

A few hours later the group of celebrating comrades had split up a bit. Leo had disappeared into some back room to play poker and Charge and Swain were seated at the bar when Nikki and Rebecca returned from the dancefloor.

"Hey, Swain, you still owe me a dance!", Rebecca laughed, already a bit drunk and slung one arm around his shoulder while she sat down on the stool next to him and pulled the tequila bottle to her.

"Where have Buffer and Spider disappeared to once again?", Nikki wondered after ordering herself another cocktail.

"They have downed some more drinks and are now getting another tattoo. At least Buffer – Spider is such a mummys girl, he would never get himself a tattoo!", Charge explained and took a sip of his drink.

"My mum would freak out if I came home with a tattoo...", Swain imitated their comrade and immediately Bomber shot a angry gaze at him.

"I mean, there is hardly anybody on board Hammersley who hasn´t got a tattoo!"

Charge patted on his own upper arm and added:"Same about the whole navy, I guess!"

"Being in the navy doesn´t mean you have to get yourself a tattoo!", Bomber tried to defend young Spider, but this happened to become a dud shot.

"But you also have one!", Nikki grinned and within seconds the eyes of the two older sailors were lying on Rebecca.

"You do have one?!"

"Where? And why didn´t you tell us?"

"Guys!", Bomber yelled, but got interrupted again:"Cool, show it to us!"

"Buffer, where did you left Spider?", Swain wanted to know as he recognized the man who had just arrived.

"He´s with Pauly, sleeping like a baby."

"Why did you left him there?"

"Pauly is not finished yet, so I thought I could come around for another drink!", Buffer explained with an evil smirk. "A little revenge for his last prank!"

"What?! You gave him so much alcohol that he doesn´t even get when somebody gives him a tattoo against his will?!"

"Bomb, calm down. I am already curious what you had in mind, Buff!", Charge grinned. Bomber looked like she would explode any second and hit Buffer into the ground. She could not understand why nobody was saying anything! Buffer put one soothing hand on her shoulder and said:"Bomb, don´t you get that angry, after all you gave me the clue how to get Spider unconscious... Oh, and you have to come with me, I need your help to get Spider back to the ship, he is heavy like wet laundry when he´s drunk!"

"Why should I help you?! You can do this on your own! I hope you will regret what you did when you´re sober again!"

"Why? Well, I could tell him where you did get these ice hockey cards from..."

Bomber glared at him angrily and grumbled:"That´s extortion!"

"Anyway you would like to call it", Buffer smiled triumphantly as Bomber downed one last tequila, got down from her stool and followed Buffer to leave the club.

"Hello, mate", Buffer yelled and entered, closely followed by Bomber, the room in which Pauly made the tattoos and piercings for his costumers.

"Hey Buff, just finished, the little one´s still asleep!"

While he said that the brawny man pointed at Spider, who was located belly downside on a camp bed and snorring noisily. Pauly put one last strap of tape over the compress that covered Spiders shoulder blade and looked up, twinkling at Bomber.

"Is that her?"

"What did he tell you?!", Bomber asked sceptically and rose one eyebrow, watching how Pauly handed Buffer the t-shirt that belonged to Spider.

"Well, I heard the tattoo was dedicated to you!"

"Pauly...", Buffer murmured slightly alerted and then the two men pulled Spider up. "I told you not to listen to the things that drunk Spider says!"

Bomber wanted to enrage a little bit more and ask Buffer what the hell he had done, but just in this moment she got hypnotized by Spiders muscular chest. She just couldn´t look away until Buffer managed to pull the t-shirt over Spiders head. She blinked, being a bit confused and hoped the others hadn´t seen that – she had just acted as if she had never seen some half naked guy!

"Come on, Bomber, hurry, we need to get little Spider into his bed!", Buffer pulled her out of her thoughts and gave her a wave to come to him.

Bomber and Buffer had nearly reached the harbor, both of them had wrapped one of Spiders arms around their shoulders, as Buffer suddenly let go of Spider. Bomber nearly got down to her knees under Spiders weight and protested loudly. "HEY!"

"I think I want to drink another beer with the others! Spider!"

He slapped against Spiders ear whereupon the young men woke up, staring around totally confused. A satisfied grin appeared on Buffers face, then he turned on his heel and just walked away.

"Buffer!", Bomber screamed furiously, but he only waved and answered without looking back:"You will pull it off, I am sure!"

"Hey Bomba...", Spider babbled, looping his arms around her neck, inspecting her with a prurient look. "What´ya doin here?"

"Caring for a drunken idiot!", she growled and pulled him with her, as he definitely tried to slap her ass, but he was so drunk that he could not coordinate and missed her.

* * *

I don´t know when I will be able to finish the next chapter, but I will do my best to make it fast :)


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for your review Alimoo1971 :) So, here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it :)

* * *

During the whole route back to the Hammersley non of the two said a word, what may be caused by the fact that Spider was really busy with staying on his feet and Bomber was not of the opinion that Spider was usable for a talk, additionally she lacked of air to speak due to Spiders weight lasting on her.

The biggest hurdle had been the narrow gangway where they had not been able to walk at each others sides and Spider had only walked with the speed of a snail. When Bomber wanted to support him again, he got a little bit to much into a forward leaning position, lost his balance and stumbled against Bomber with the result that both crashed into the steel wall of the Hammersley. Spider stayed close to her and stopped Bomber from moving.

"You damn idiot...", she hissed angrily. "That did hurt!"

"Ssorry, Babe..."

"Don´t you call me babe, drunkard!"

He grinned and looked deeply into her eyes. Technically she had wanted to look at him annoyed or enraged, but, from a reason she could not tell, she was not able to do that.

"You´re looking really hot this evening", he whispered with a deep, husky voice and immediately her body was covered with shivers, although she normally did not like to be hit on that way by a man.

"Hm...", she made and tried with all her force to look grumpy. His smile widened and she was not able to break the eye contact, even as he gently placed his hands on her slim hips. It felt like they were both tied up by the glimpse of each other and their faces drew closer to each other. Ages seemed to have passed by until their lips finally touched and they closed their eyes, ruled by the magic of the moment. The kiss, that had started very timid, quickly grew more demanding and passionate. Anyway Bomber had wrapped her arms around Spider and pulled him even closer to her body.

Bomber´s mind came back to work only a few minutes later. It was like she had been unconscious for this passed time, because she could not remember how she had managed to achieve the position she was currently in.

Her hands were under Spider´s t-shirt touching his muscular chest, her legs were wrapped around his hips and for a short moment she asked herself how he was able to hold his balance while holding her, considering the fact that he had struggled to stand normally just a few minutes ago. His hands were everywhere, alike his warm lips and it felt so good that her body protested as she pushed him away to get to stand on her own feet again. Her top had slid up, or he had shoved it up, exposing her belly and she hurried to slide it down again.

"What is the matter?", Spider asked a bit surprised, sounding a bit more sober then before, and supported himself through pressing his hands against the wall on her left and right side, bend down to her and kissed her once again, but this time Bomber broke it and brought some space between them before her mind could pass out once more, giving up to the screaming desire for his closeness.

"Stop it", she whispered breathlessly. "We should not do this... we are drunk, especially you, and we need to go to bed, notably you, and additionally we both could loose our job because of this!"

Spider definitely looked a bit disappointed, maybe even hurt, but he did not made an attempt to contradict her.

"I hope you will be able to find your rack on your on", she said, pushed his arms away and hurried to get under deck and into her own bed.

* * *

The next morning, Bomber awoke from feeling somebody climbing onto her bed, pushing her body against the wall and fanning the scent of fresh coffee to her nose.

"Hm... what?!", Bomber growled slightly confused and sat up, her eyes still half closed.

"Shh... not that loud...", Nikki´s voice came through the fog of her own headache into her still dazed brain. "Drink this, you´ll be fit within one hour!"

"Are you sure?", Bomber mumbled, taking the mug from Nikki while comparing her pain to a dozen of elephants stamping on her head, then she took a careful sip from the still steaming liquid. "Yaak, what..."

"Coffee, extra strong, a bit of sugar and a few aspirin. That should fight the hangover a bit, unfortunately I can´t offer you some saline drip."

Bomber warped her face in disgust, but bravely took another sip and asked:"Did something interesting happen while I was away?"

Nikki shrugged with her shoulders and fished a bar of Bomber´s emergency chocolate from her covert, opened the wrapping paper and took a bite.

"Buffer did serve some more rounds of tequila later on which explains my glorious headache... But concerning interesting things, I actually wanted to ask YOU about that, after all you had to drag a drunken Spider back to the ship on your own!"

"To be honest, I can´t recall on anything concrete... Some cocktails, tequila, I think I had a bit to much!"

"Memory gaps?! You cant do that to me! What if you saw Spider´s tattoo?! I so want to know what it looks like, but Buffer is refusing to tell me!"

"You could ask him if he takes his shirt off for you!", Bomber said in a flat tone, took the last few gulps from her mug and leaned her head back against the wall, her eyes closed.

"I think he would rather do it for you", Nikki countered and giggled, but immediately did regret her words and bit onto her lower lip.

"How funny..."

"I... I am sorry... I was talking from my mind... but you can´t tell me that you never noticed the looks he shoots at you."

Bomber did not answer and thereby caused a few minutes of silence until Nikki started the topic again:"And you need to admit that he is exercising a certain attraction on you!"

"If he is not hugely annoying or acting like a little kid, you could see a nice, attractive young man in Spider..."

"Yees?", Nikki grinned expectantly and leaned forward, but Bomber was not able to answer as there was a knock on the door and then Buffer appeared in the door gap.

"Hey girls... I don´t want to disturb you, but...

"To late...", Bomber grumbled, touching her forehead, while a wide smile appeared on Nikki´s face and the navigator asked:" What can we do for you?"

"Well, Swaino is still kinda... unconscious and Spider is whining about his itching tattoo, but does not want anybody to take care about it, but as you told me last time, a sore spot can be dangerous and now I want to force him...

"... once again", Bomber answered accusingly, but still nodded. "Give me a few minutes to refresh and dress, then I´ll be there."

"Ok, until then, I will imprison him in the ward room", Buffer said and closed the door behind him. Bomber looked at Nav and rose one eyebrow, and murmured, ere she plagued herself down from the rack:"Well, who is now shooting obvious glances at whom?!"


	3. Chapter 3

So, here is the next chapter and finally we will find out about Spider´s tattoo!

I hope you all enjoy the story and I would be delighted over some feedback :)

* * *

"Well, here I am", Bomber announced as she entered the wardroom and was hit immediately by a frightened gaze from Spider.

"Spider, I am not here to amputate your foot!", she grinned and put on some of the latex gloves. "Buffer, what did you do to him?"

"I did not even scream at him, I swear!"

Bomber raised one eyebrow and shot a sceptic look at him, then she turned to Spider who watched her vigilantly, pressing his lips tightly together.

"Spider, if you don´t take your shirt off I can´t help you. Do you want to suffer from blood poisoning? This can happen faster as if you would think!"

The whining sound Spider made mostly swallowed the small giggle from Nikki, who was standing in the door frame, next to Buffer. Bomber could almost see how it was working inside of Spider´s head, then he finally pulled his shirt over his head and leant over the table in the middle of the room.

"Buffer, it really was not fair to do this."

"I knew you would take side for Spider as soon as possible!", Buffer smirked and was rewarded by death glares from two different persons until Bomber turned to her patient again and pushed him down on the table. Buffer handed her some disinfectant and gauze from the med closet.

"Everything okay, Spider? You´re very quite."

"Yeah... just some headache... How... how about you?"

"Me? I can barely recall on anything that happened yesterday!", Bomber laughed and removed the first layer of compresses from Spider´s shoulder.

"Frustrating, isn´t it? I had hoped for some gossip!", Nikki sighed. "Buffer just did not wanted to tell me anything. You don´t even know what he gave you yourself, right?"

"No... ", Spider answered with a contorted expression on his face. "But despite this my mum will kill me if she finds out. Thank you, Buffer!"

"Well, by means of you the X and me almost were not able to work together any more!"

"I thought I already paid for this when you pushed me in the dryer!"

"Obviously you did not listen to me, Spider! Don´t you remember that I promised you you would pay for this as long as you are a sailor in the navy?", Buffer grinned devilishly and watched Bomber relaxed as she was about to put away the last compress. Nikki also stretched her neck as good as possible to have a better look from behind of Buffer.

* * *

As Bomber removed the last part of the bandage and she saw the bare part of skin, she suddenly felt extremely dizzy as a flood of memories from the past night hit her brain.

Spider an her on deck of Hammersley... His lips passionately covering hers... His hands touching her skin... her legs wrapped around his hips... Pauly leaning over the snoring Spider telling her:"I heard this would be dedicated to you!"

She tried to catch her breath and heard Spider, like he was far away, asking:"Is it already that bad?!"

Slowly she turned to look at Buffer, her lineaments some kind of murderous.

"BUFFER!", she screamed so loud that Nikki, Buffer and Spider jumped – and then Buffer went for a quick escape. "I WILL KILL YOU!"

Bomber immediately started to hunt him and Nikki could take a look on that ominous tattoo that had been on her mind for the whole day.

"Well... this looks... ahm..."

Spider rose and hurried over to the small mirror hanging over the sink and as he saw the picture that decorated his sun tanned skin, he lost the colour in his face and turned white.

"She... she is going to kill me, too!", he murmured abashed. "I think she remembers everything from yesterday..."

"What did happen yesterday? Spider, tell me!"

Nikki watched him with a threatening face and took a large step towards the young sailor who agitatedly drove one hand through his hair.

"We... we kind of... m... made out."

"You did make out?!", Nikki asked, suddenly looking happily enthusiastic. "When? Where?!"

"When... when we came back to the ship... I called her babe and... we kissed and then... oh shit..."

He buried his face in his hands as his face started to turn from white into red.

"What?" Nikki wanted to know, completely excited, and pushed the door shut. "You did not do more, did you? Did you have... you know... sex?"

"Noo! But if she had not had a sudden clear moment, then we would have continued..."

"Oh my gosh, this is totally like gossip Christmas!", Nikki rejoiced and Spider was horrified by her unusual behaviour.

"You... you won´t tell the others about this, don´t you?! If the boss or the X hear about what happened, then... damn it, Nav, I could pack my bags! We could both forget about a Navy career!"

"Oh Spi, don´t worry, you know me, I will only tell it the trustworthy persons...", Nikki grinned and reopened the door, ready to leave. "Well, I will take a look if I can pick up some shreds of our Buffer that Bomber might have left over. And you stay here, you still need to treated."

* * *

"BUFFER, JUST STOP, YOU BLOODY BASTARD!", Bomber yelled as she was right behind Buffer, racing through the small hallways of Hammersley. They also passed Kate and Mike, who had just exited the cabin of the CO together, but Bomber had no time to think about this. She just heard them both gasp loudly as she slightly pushed them against the wall to continue her sprint.

On the quarterdeck she was finally able to stop him and with the force of an angry woman she pushed him against one of the smokestacks.

"Where you even thinking about what you were doing?!", she hissed and raging gazes left her dark eyes.

"Bomb, let me explain..."

"Oh, I already see it! You not only made him drunk and gave him this tattoo against his will, you also had the idea to play a terrible hoax on me! Or what other reason would your motif idea "I love Bomber – My sweet galley girl" pursue then?! What did I do to you that you felt the need to be so insulting! Tell me, Buff!"

"Okay, Bomb, just calm down a bit first!"

He carefully shoved her away one step and cleared his throat, then he started to talk:"I just could not watch you two any longer, doing your...sorry, eye sex thing and denying the feelings you have for each other! So I took the issue into my hands!"

Bomber stared at him, but was not able to say a single word. Buffer made sure she wasn´t about to strangle him and went on:"You love each other, this is even visible for a blind one. Do you know how many times we had to listen to Spider talking to you in his sleep? Believe me, this is serious and I just wanted you both to realise this, damn it!"

"Buff...", Bomber finally said after some time of silence and he believed she would go nuts for the second time this morning, but surprisingly and to his relief a small smile became visible. "You... you may be... okay... you´re right, but... this way was so... buffer-like... It was not right to do this, after all!"

Peter nodded, then shrugged with his shoulders and looked a her like "The purpose sanctifies the medium.

"And this is why you will be heavily punished, Buff! And of course from the mistress of torture herself, alongside the X. Nikki, come out, I know you´ve been listening!"

"I wasn´t!", Nikki protested, coming out of her (not) hiding place near the RHIBs, hands deeply buried into her pockets as she approached her comrades.

"However, it is your duty to suitably punish Buffer for his doings! And don´t be to softly, even if he turns to be a bit girlish, he deserves it!", Bomber explained with a nasty grin, before she turned to go inside.

"And what are you doing now?", Nikki asked while gripping Buffers forearm to prevent him from clearing out. Bomber laughed and yelled:"I still have a patient waiting for me!"


	4. Chapter 4

Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it and leave me some feedback :)

* * *

Spider was still waiting in the wardroom and he obviously was scared, as Bomber could tell from his reaction as she entered. He twitched and looked at her as if she would grab a huge knife and attack him like some psychopath in a horror movie. But nothing alike happened. She appeared to be calm and relaxed as she pulled one new pair of gloves over her hands and approached him.

"Get down, we need to disinfect that wound."

Spider swallowed and leaned down, supporting himself with his elbows on the table. He flinched when she touched him and he hissed sharply as she treated the tattoo with her name carefully with a swab. Her silence made him even more nervous then before and he almost could not push himself to ask her:"What... what did you do to Buffer?"

"Oh, Nav will take care about that. Could you boys be so kind and stop with all that childish crap? And don´t you dare to think about a second revenge so this continues until you two realise how idiotic this is!"

Spider sensed how she applied a thin layer of salve on his shoulder before she started to bandage him. He took a deep breath and started to talk abashed:"I promise, this won´t happen... Bomb, ahm... because of... because of last night, I..."

He straightened his back and drove his hand through his short hair while he watched Bomber cleaning up the used med stuff.

"Bomb, I don´t know how I could loose control, I nearly had... I am so sorry..."

"I don´t want to hear your pardon!", Bomber said shortly and wanted to leave the ward room, but Spider slipped between the young sailor and the door quickly and locked these.

"What shall this be?!", Bomber asked him with a convincingly angry gaze, but inside her she felt a gaggle of butterflies raving.

"Bomb..."

"Leave me alone", she snarled and wanted to push him away, but as her hands met his bare chest, her body would not obey her any more, so her hands were left resting on his muscles.

"I... that...", she stuttered and felt how the words, she wanted to say, simply slipped her away.

How she wished they could do what they did the previous evening... She just wanted to bury her hands in this wonderfully ruffled hair and...

Spider grinned triumphant, bent down to her and captured a kiss from her.

"Billy", she whispered breathless while their faces came closer again. "I don´t think this is a good idea..."

"Why do you think I locked the door?", Spider grinned and shoved one strand of her brown hair behind her ear, his breath caressing her face. "Would you mind if I asked you something?"

"What?"

He smiled and murmured:"Since when are you wax in my hands?"

"You´re to blame!", she answered in a low voice as he pulled her softly into a embrace. "You damn fool made me love you!"

"Well, I must say that I have to return this accusation."

Bomber lay her cheek against his chest and closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat.

* * *

"Nav, my wrists are hurting!", Buffer complained, kneeling on the floor of the galley. He put aside the toothbrush he had been using and got up to his feet to look at Nikki who was seated on the counter top, letting her legs dangle while she ate a bag of crisps.

"Hey, no pause there, Buff – oon, the floor shall gleam! I think you already suspected that you would get some uncomfortable punish when you figured your plan out, so get down and scrub!"

She slipped a gummy bear into her mouth and chewed pleasurable. Buffer grinned and said:"I had hoped my punishment would include to do everything to make you feel good..."

"You know, I would really feel much better if the floor would look more then clean... and after that I could need a nice massage..."

They exchanged some meaningful looks, then Buffer asked:"It´s so quite in the ward room – do you think she killed him and is now shredding the body parts?"

"Buff!", Nikki censured him and slipped from the counter top. "Never... I would guess the two are busy in some other was..."

She twinkled with a naughty expression and Buffer grinned knowingly as he stood up from the floor again and looked down on her. Buffer gave her a warm smile and their fingers entwined. Just as their lips grew closer, they had to jump apart as suddenly Kate stopped by the output counter.

"Okay, Buffer! Will you explain the meaning of that scene between Bomber and you to me? Mi... ahm, the boss and me, we where extremely bewildered! And where is Bomber? I would like to talk to her too!"

"Bomber? I... I think she is in the ward room, doing... doing some things for Swain... and this thing, yeah, you know... that was no big deal..."

"She appeared extremely angry to us and additionally she screamed she would kill you!"

Nikki and Buffer laughed artificially and Buffer explained:"Oh... she was just... kidding!"

One of Kate´s eyebrows rose up to the ceiling, it was clear she would not be happy with the information she got so far.

"Well... I believe you – for the moment. But I will also talk to Bomber and if she has another explanation, you will have to serve me the real details!"

Kate left, heading towards the ward room and Buffer whispered into Nikki´s ear:"I think there is something going on between the X and the boss again – they left his cabin together when we ran pass."

"You sure?", Nikki inquired, wondering if he could be right, while Buffer grinned and nodded resolute.

* * *

Kate walked the short way from the galley to the ward room down the hallway and tried to operate the door handle, but the door did not open. Kate wondered why Bomber would lock the door for working and vigorously knocked on the door.

"Bomber?"

Bomber and Spider synchronously raised their heads and looked at the door. Spider indignantly pressed his lips together, then he murmured:"Why does she want something from you now? She shall get in line, it´s my turn right now!"

Bomber had to suppress a giggle and leant the back of her head against his shoulder.

"Bomber? Please, answer me!", Kate´s voice came from the other side of the locked door and Bomber answered:"X, I am not feeling good presently, could you please come back later?"

"Okay, but then we definitely have to talk with each other!", Kate said, then they heard how she left. Spider grinned and breathed out:"Finally she is gone..."

"Yeah, luckily...", she answered and nestled herself into his arms. Spider´s fingers played with the hem of her grey uniform shirt and he whispered:"This morning I heard Buffer and Charge talking about you having a tattoo yourself."

"And if I had one?"

"Where is it?", Spider asked curiously and planted some kisses on her neck. She smiled and said:"I don´t see any reason why I should tell you that..."

He turned her around in his arms and kissed her. "How about that?"

"Not bad... but don´t you have anything more... convincing?", Bomber grinned and Spider did not need to be asked twice until he leant down to her again.

Some minute later they pulled apart and as Spider looked at her questioningly, she just nodded as she could not answer due to the lack of oxygen.

"So, where is it?", Spider wanted to know, but Bomber just placed a finger on his lips, then she turned around and to his astonishment she pulled her t-shirt over her head.

"Wow", he murmured and his fingers followed the trail of the small rose vines on the middle of her back. "This is beautiful... Is it me or are these vines forming a B?"

"I designed it myself – but the letter would be a complete coincidence!"

She turned to look at him, blinked with a small smile on her face and slung her arms around his neck. Spider left some kisses on her shoulder, then he said into her ear:"Mine was made by me too – but stupidly Buffer found the damn sheet of paper and turned it against me."

"You´re cute, do you know that?"

"So, what if the cutie suggested that we utilize the time until the X will return?"

"Well, I just wanted to say the same thing!", Bomber smiled and pulled him down to kiss him once again.


	5. Chapter 5

Next one – some confrontation :D I hope you enjoy it :)

* * *

Half an hour later Kate, Mike, Nikki and Buffer had gathered in front of the ward room and waited for Bomber to open the door. While Kate was getting on everyone´s nerves with her impatience, Mike was the calmness himself. He seemed to treat the whole thing more relaxed then his XO and as Kate already wanted to harshly knock on the door, he put one soothing hand on her shoulder and pulled her one step back. It was as if he had knew, because about a half minute later the door opened and Bomber was standing in the door frame, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"You wanted to talk to me, X?", Bomber asked and took a step to the side to let the small group enter the ward room. Nikki was the first one and immediately blocked the doorway to lead Bombers attention to some alarming detail.

"Bomb, your shirt is on the wrong side!", Nikki murmured and purposely remained at her place to give Bomber the time to slip her green camouflage top on to conceal the seams of her grey shirt. She shot a thankful look at the navigator who left her place and entered the room, looking at Spider who was seated in the corner of the bench and convulsively tried to hide a smile.

With the six soldiers in the small ward room it was hard to find a place to sit for everyone, therefore Kate remained in the standing position, but additionally to seem more authoritarian as she over-topped the sitting men now.

"Well, Bomber, Buffer, I would like to hear a explanation for you behaviour, from both of you! This is a patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy and not some... kindergarten!"

Her intensively disgruntled gaze wandered between the two "defendants" and her lips were pressed together to build a tight line, while she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Buffer showed a small grimace and leaned himself a little bit forward, before he started to explain:"Ahm, well X, I need to admit that I gave Bomber some good reason to get angry about me..."

One of Kate´s eyebrows rose to the ceiling and she asked in a dry tone:"What did you do?"

Bomber, Spider and Buffer exchanged some clueless looks, then Buffer decided to tell the real story:"Do... do you still remember this tattoo, that Spi..."

"Oh yeah...", Kate puffed and shook her head. "Still way to livid!"

How could she ever forget that, it had cost her more than a week to convince Mike that she really wasn´t involved with Buffer...

"You... you know, yesterday... after some tequila... I... I decided to pay him back the very same way..."

Kate´s mouth popped open, but she immediately closed it as she became aware of it and drove one hand through her blonde hair. Mike had said nothing so far because he thought that Kate was capable of dealing with this problem, but now a noise, suspiciously sounding like a repressed giggle, escaped him.

"What do you mean with "the same way"?!"

Kate´s voice was a bit shrill and it seemed like she was stressed by the imagination of the potential scenario´s.

"Well, ahm...", Spider stuttered, his cheeks stained in deep red as he raised from the bench, turned and slipped his shirt up to his shoulders. While the others attention was on Spider, Bomber seemed to sink deeper and deeper into the cushion.

* * *

The blue eyes of the XO widened as she saw the tattoo on Spider´s shoulder blade and it appeared as if she was getting nearer to the threshold to a mental breakdown. Her outburst came as Mike and Nikki finally had to giggle very loud, while Buffer´s lineament quickly changed between a half grin and a guilty puppy face.

"MIKE!", Kate growled aggressively and glared at him. "Mike, especially you should not think that this is something funny! These extremely childish actions undermine the moral aboard!"

But Mike did not stop laughing, even as he said:"But Kate, you still have to admit that this is a real coincidence to see that of all Bomber´s name appears in this tattoo, regarding the fact that we spotted them last night while making out!"

Every bit of colour faded from the faces of Bomber and Spider and they were in a state of shock as they watched their CO. Additionally, Spider dropped himself back on the bench and one question was flying around in their heads: If they had seen them, why had it taken them so long to approach them with this? Or had they used this time to inform NAVCOM about them, so that they would be dismissed dishonourably when they arrived in Cairns?!

"Sir, w-we...", Spider stammered and wanted to try to rescue the situation, but his voice disobeyed him. He nervously groped after Bombers hand and their fingers entwined, searching for support, and they did not let go, even as Kate fixed them like a predator fixed his prey. But before she could jump at the young couple, Mike finally interfered in his function as the commander of the ship and put the brakes on his XO.

"I think we all should calm down right now and deal with the truth then."

He rose and gently pushed Kate into a sitting position on the bench. He watched Bomber and Spider and saw the worry in their faces, so he added:"We should speak openly with each other. Nav, Buffer, would you please leave the room?"

"Wh...", Nikki immediately wanted to protest, but Buffer was able to react real fast and covered her mouth with one hand to shut her, while he wrapped his other arm around her shoulders and manoeuvred her out of the room.

* * *

Seconds after the door had closed behind them, Nikki tried to free herself from Buffers grip through kicking around.

"Buff, let me go or I will think about some more punishments for you!"

Pete laughed and formally trailed her to the galley, already suspecting that she would try to flee once again. As they arrived in the galley, he pointed at the floor, a wide grin on his face and explained:"The floor is more than shiny and I don´t think you have any idea´s left!"

"Well, if I want, I can be extremely creative and extremely nasty!", Nikki threatened him and tried to escape the arms entwined around her from behind for the third time, even she could not deny that she felt comfortable in this position. She simply wanted to control this situation, dominate it – and Buffer exactly knew this.

"Oh my gosh, now I am hugely afraid!", Buffer laughed, but did not even think about loosening his grip. Instead he leant a bit forward and whispered into her ear:"Do you smell that?"

She twitched and felt her heart skip a beat as he came so close, but she was still able to cover her feelings up.

"What?"

"Pancakes!"

"Don´t you bugger about that! There never is a left-over when Bomber makes pancake´s!"

"Seems like this time was different", Buffer grinned triumphant and stretched one arm to open the huge fridge and actually there was a plate, hidden behind some canisters of milk.

"How did you knew about that?"

A knowing smile glowed on Buffers face and he used his free hand to take the plate out and put it down on the counter-top, while he was still holding her with the other arm.

"Because I know how much you love to eat them when they were in the fridge for one day and as you missed lunch yesterday..."

"You read my mind, creepy you!", Nikki shook her head in disbelief, but she still showed him a small smile.

"Always", Buffer murmured and her heart jumped as he gently drove her against the fridge and slowly bend down to her.


	6. Chapter 6

"So..."

It was Mike who broke the silence that had filled the few minutes after Nav and Buffer had left. His gaze wandered between Bomber and Spider, than the captain went on:"If I see this correctly, then you two finally realised that you belong together!"

Kate shot another angry look at him to signalise him that he should be acting less like a friend or even father, but like their superior officer, but he completely ignored her.

"Sir... that´s... that´s right, we..."

Spider took a short look on Bomber, then he became more secure:"Sir, we know that there will be consequences for what I will confess to you now, but... we love each other and we want to be together!"

Bomber tightly squeezed his hand as she added:"We are heavily sorry for our unprofessional behaviour, Sir!"

Kate angrily murmured something like "I hope so", but Mike´s strict look silenced her, so she just leant back and crossed her arms in front of her chest, just like a pouting little child.

"It´s okay, Bomber. Officially, this did never happen!"

"Sir, no, it would not be right if you lied because of us, we...", the young chef rebelled, but Mike just rose one hand to comfort them.

"Bomber, you two are good soldiers and fine sailors. You are just at the beginning of some great careers, everything is still open to you two. And this is why I don´t want to destroy your possibilities, it would be a shot in the navy´s own flesh, from my point of view!"

"T-thank you, boss...", Spider stuttered with glowing eyes and wrapped one arm around Bomber´s shoulder and she immediately leaned herself into him, forgetting for a short moment where she was. She came back to reality really fast as Spider asked the CO:"And how will we manage to get out of this thing without getting in trouble?"

Bomber raised her head a little bit to look at Kate, who was still sitting next to her, in which she just followed Mike´s gaze. The XO paused for a few seconds, then she answered with a deep sigh:"This morning we received the order to make a list with those crew members of Hammersley we would suggest for a promotion. We will ask for a shore posting at NAVCOM in Cairns for you, Spider. This will give you two some time to develop your relationship."

"Cool, thank you, Sir, X!", Spider grinned and pulled Bomber into a embrace, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. Mike could see how Kate´s mouth angles twitched to a small smile and he said:"Well, we will leave you alone then. I guess you´ll have a lot to discuss!"

"Yes, thank you, boss!", Bomber added and let out a deep breath of relief.

* * *

"I can´t believe that this is really happening!", Spider smiled as the door was shut behind the CO. They looked at each other, their eyes full of happiness and Bomber nodded:"Yes... I think I will need some days until I fully realise that this is the actuality!"

Spider leant forward to kiss her, but suddenly she stopped him, her hands holding his head back.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, you love the Hammersley, you love being on the sea and doing this job out here and... Do you really want to take a shore posting just for me?"

He could understand her doubts, he could have shared them with her, but right now, Billy Webb knew exactly what he wanted.

"You´re right, I love this job, everything about it. But I also love you! And I feel that this could be something serious one day and I don´t want to give this up just because I am feeling to comfortable here! You are no 'just'!"

Tears shimmered in her brown eyes and he wiped a wet trail away before he gently cupped her face and gave her a soft kiss. For the first time, Billy Webb had the feeling that he did make an adult decision and it felt extremely good.

* * *

"Well, this would be done", Mike sighed, closing the ward room door behind him. Suddenly, Kate painfully grabbed his forearm and murmured:"The next problem is already marching in!"

She pointed at the output counter of the galley and looked quite indignant as Mike started to grin.

They saw Nikki and Buffer standing in the galley, so tightly entwined that one could barely say which body part belonged to whom. They were involved in a deep, passionate kiss and did not notice anything of their surroundings. Kate made a frustrated noise as the command duo walked down the empty hallway and blew a strand of hair out of her face while she complained:"Now we have to do much more paperwork to satisfy them too!"

Mike smiled and wrapped one arm around her shoulder as he answered:"Well, but that is the way the things work if you want to be a good commander and help your people. You need to have a strong writing hand!"

Kate looked up and said:"Maybe we should open a poll before we start writing the promotion list – so that we know how much couples we really have aboard!"

"I think we should consider this. But I already know that the Hammersley is the only ship in the RAN that is pairing off its crew members!"

"So, it´s really the ship then", Kate smiled while Mike placed a gentle kiss on her hair.

THE END

* * *

So, this concludes the story! I hope you liked it (sorry, I am definitely not good in writing endings) and I would like to thank Alimoo1971 for constantly following my story and leaving reviews! :)


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